dsmWeekly: March 13, 2024

A colorful plate at HUGO’s Wood-Fired Kitchen offers many flavors of the Mediterranean. (Photo: Duane Tinkey)

Redefining dining in the Drake neighborhood

By Wini Moranville

With HUGO’s Wood-Fired Kitchen, a new restaurant in the Drake area set to open in the next few weeks, chef-owner Lynn Pritchard is drawing a line in the sand. A guiding principle in his staff’s mission statement is “the death of mediocrity.”

“I am fed up with our acceptance of mediocre food, mediocre service and a complete lack of hospitality,” he said. “These days, I intentionally check myself before going into a restaurant and lower my expectations. Otherwise, I leave really upset after paying an $85 bill.”

Yes, that sounds harsh, but somebody had to say it. Most every diner I know has tried to be gracious and forgiving toward restaurants imperiled by the pandemic and its ever-lingering aftermath. Still, one can’t help but feel disappointed after paying $18 for a burger (nearly $23 after tax and tip) that’s too often indifferently served and merely standard in quality.

Pritchard, who also owns 503 Cocktail Lab + Tasting Room and Table 128 (also set to reopen soon), says he’s committed to the pursuit of excellence from the moment diners walk through the door at 3206 University Ave. to the moment they leave. And even before that: Yes, someone will answer the phone and, better yet, be able to answer your questions.

As he put it: “We want to be nailing those points of service” — a set of industry guidelines that ensure a quality customer experience — “and executing on a level of hospitality that isn’t paralleled in the city.”
The menu is equally ambitious. Although HUGO’s will offer casual food with prices in line with its Drake neighborhood setting, don’t look for burgers, loaded fries, wings and the like. Pritchard is determined to make his menu stand out as “jarringly different” from the carbon-copy menus he sees at many other casual establishments in the Midwest.

The HUGO’s team was still refining the menu when dsm went to print, but Pritchard said diners can expect a culinary journey that spans the Mediterranean, including flavors from Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and North Africa. Flatbread, pizzas, salads, sandwiches and a few composed entrees will showcase house-made ricotta, mozzarella cashew cheeses and warm, earthy, savory, vibrant and sweet spice blends, such as za’atar, baharat and ras el hanout.

A striking wood-fired oven will be the focal point of the interior, which will seat around 64 diners. With dark furnishings, including tabletops crafted from Iowa oak, the design will harmonize the rustic charm of the wood-fired activity with luminous and airy elements from a substantial bank of windows.
Pritchard noted the patio will be “the smile on the face” of the restaurant. With a fireplace and infrared heaters for cooler months and huge ceiling fans for summer, he’s hoping to accommodate open-air dining from March through November.

Like the guiding North Star for Pritchard’s high standards, he named the restaurant after two cherished family members — his son and his late father, both named Hugh — but decided HUGO had a more restaurant-y ring. As such, the whole project seems like more than a culinary venture: It’s an homage to his family and a warm invitation to a place that feels as comforting as home.

Good neighbors

HUGO’s Wood-Fired Kitchen will share a building with the WesleyLife Meals on Wheels campus, which delivers about 1,000 hot, flavorful and nutritious meals to the homes of military veterans and older individuals who can’t easily shop for groceries or prepare meals. Delivery drivers make sure to stop in for a quick conversation and a safety check.

The campus, which celebrated its grand opening on Dec. 1, includes a kitchen and an indoor vertical garden, with a second floor devoted to programs that foster connections between younger and older adults via the arts, health and education.

HUGO’s and Meals on Wheels share not only a building but a mission. Pritchard plans to volunteer for the nonprofit and will expect his staff to do the same. “My parents taught me the importance of leaving the world better than I found it,” he said. “I want to foster that vein of philanthropy in my businesses as well.”

Pop singer Chappell Roan taps into a drag-inspired persona for her over-the-top visuals. (Photo: Ryan Clemens)

BEST BET

A ‘Midwest Princess’ comes to town

By Mathany Ahmed

By the time 25-year-old Chappell Roan dropped her debut album, "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess," last October, her career had already had its share of highs and lows. The Missouri-born musician went viral on YouTube as a teen and, at 17, signed with Atlantic Records. A few years later, the label dropped her — the same week as a break-up.

Things are going much better for the pop singer and songwriter now. She’s opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” tour and headlining a tour of her own, which visits the Val Air Ballroom on Sunday night.

Her “Midwest Princess” album is racking up millions of online plays and is filled with triumphant, danceable beats that often contrast with the toxic love lessons laid out in the lyrics. “I just wanna get to know ya,” she sings in “Red Wine Supernova.” “Guess I didn't quite think it through. Fell in love with the thought of you. Now I'm choked up, face down, burnt out.”

In her music videos and concerts, she often channels what she calls a "tacky pop star," blending glittery makeup, big red hair and visuals that call to mind Hannah Montana with drag-queen flair. Roan identifies as queer and weaves her personal experiences and perspectives into her music, with tracks like "Pink Pony Club" about her first visit to a gay club.

Each stop on the “Midwest Princess” tour features local drag queens, and $1 from every ticket supports For the Gworls, a nonprofit that serves Black trans and nonbinary people.

If you're new to Roan, Sunday’s concert could be just the right introduction. As she points out in “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” “You know what they say: Never waste a Friday night on a first date.”

The Week Ahead

ARL Hoops & Howls (7 tonight): Who let the wolves out? Dogs and their humans can watch the Iowa Wolves take on the Memphis Hustle from an exclusive dog-friendly section. A portion of each ticket supports the Animal Rescue League.

“Funny Girl” (7:30 p.m. through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday): The plucky up-and-comer Fanny Brice tells her story in the national tour of the Broadway revival at the Des Moines Civic Center. Note to clouds: Don’t rain on her parade. Seriously. Back off.

“States of Becoming” gallery talk (6 p.m. Thursday): Sudanese American artist Elshafei Dafalla and Des Moines Art Center curator Laura Burkhalter discuss the current exhibit, which features work from Dafalla and 16 other African artists.

Matteo Lane (8 p.m. Friday): The New York comedian and former opera singer uses his six-octave vocal range and fluency in five languages to crack jokes at Hoyt Sherman Place.

Shamrock shenanigans (various times): Ease into the St. Patrick festivities on Thursday with a night of Celtic music from two bands, The High Kings and Gaelic Storm, at Hoyt Sherman Place. Shift into high gear at noon on Saturday, starting with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade through downtown, followed by a toe-tapping Irish dance show at the Central Library. The East Village debuts its very first St. Patty’s bar crawl from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday. And the fun continues on Sunday, with a drag brunch at Big Grove and a karaoke band at 300 Craft & Rooftop.

FOOD & DINING
Fund your favorites: American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced the fourth installment of its “Backing Historic Small Restaurants Program,” a grant program for historic local restaurants that began during the COVID-19 pandemic to support restaurants facing lost revenue. This year, the program will award 50 grants of $50,000 each to historic small restaurants. Nominate your favorite Des Moines restaurants that fit the criteria for consideration to receive one of the grants. Restaurant owners can also apply directly.

Wildflowers bloomed amid concrete blocks in "A Beautiful Disturbance" last week in Philadelphia. (Photo: Rob Cardillo)

ARTS & CULTURE

Kelly Norris wins top honors at Philly Flower Show

By Michael Morain

Most people think of landscapes as permanent, or at least long term. But whenever the local garden guru and author Kelly Norris spots an empty lot around town — east of City Hall, for example — he wonders what could thrive there even for just a season or two until a new building goes up. What kind of garden could flourish instead of a plain old placeholder patch of grass?

He explored that idea in a big way last week at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the country’s oldest and largest, which was founded 195 years ago and now draws crowds of 250,000 every spring.

Norris won a heap of awards, including the Governor’s Trophy, for a project he called “A Beautiful Disturbance.” To create it, he and his team filled 1,440 square feet of the Pennsylvania Convention Center with wildflowers, grasses and vines, all running beautifully rampant over concrete blocks, chain-link fences and other leftover chunks of what looked like an abandoned lot. They even scattered the space with dried-up stalks and seed pods to suggest the passage of time.

“I spent more money than I’ll ever admit to FedEx sticks across the country,” he said.

Most of the living plants came from a greenhouse and nursery north of the city, in Bucks County. For months ahead of time, Norris and the greenhouse staff pored over spreadsheets and timelines to determine which flowers they could coax into bloom just in time for the show.

Some of them, like Queen Anne’s Lace and Black-Eyed Susans, usually pop up in ditches or untended fields. One plant by itself might look like a weed. Fifty plants look intentional.

“Because really, what’s a weed?” Norris said. “When you think about those species, the lens we see them through often has little to do with the plant itself. There’s all this psychology and sociocultural stuff about what we value and how we control it.”

Ultimately, Norris created “A Beautiful Disturbance” to disrupt people’s ideas about city ecosystems. In most urban areas, in the “concrete jungles” where plants are scarce, he encourages property owners, developers and city planners to consider how vegetation can promote a sense of growth and renewal. Like public art, gardens can foster a sense of community even, or especially, when they’re designed to be ephemeral.

They sprout. They bloom. They disappear.